2 paintings and a meme

I decided to blow the dust off the easel and do a little bit of painting, which certainly isn’t my strong suit, but oh how I enjoy messing about with paint!

The first one turned out a tad more somber than I’d initially envisioned — especially given the nature of Oona’s “Happy” challenge. Still, I had fun creating it — which, I believe, is the whole point.

Finally, I’d like to get to a meme that Geri at Sewable tagged me with. It’s sort of a “slam book” (remember those?) style questionnaire. I won’t tag anyone with it afterward — not because I’m a no-fun meme killer, but because I’m a hermit with a ridiculously small social circle. So if you happen to surf in and haven’t been hit with this meme yet, consider yourself tagged.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was 25, married to my first husband, living in San Jose, and working, unhappily, as a writer of computer software manuals.

5 things on my to do list
For today:
Bake a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread
Get the a/c in my car fixed
Read The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins
Organize my sewing area
I haven’t thought of a fifth yet!

Snacks I enjoy
I enjoy fruits and veggies, but unfortunately I always end up reaching for potato chips and pastries

Things I will do if I were billionaire
Go back to university and get about 20 more degrees. Fund the arts. Travel ’round the globe.

Places I have lived
Los Angeles, CA
San Jose, CA
Cambridge, England

Jobs I have had
Market researcher
Baker
Lingerie saleswoman
Technical writer
Church pianist
Singer/Songwriter

And I’m sure that’s a whole lot more than you ever needed to know about me.

playing with paint

After seeing this gorgeous stenciled blouse on Kasia’s blog, I was dying to try out fabric stenciling myself. So I went to Michaels and picked up some acrylic fabric paints, stencils and got to work. I have piles and piles of boring, solid color fabric that I got cheaply from thrift stores (various bed linens, curtains, etc) so I thought that this would be the perfect way to jazz them up. It took a bit of practice, as I foolishly chose to pay little attention to the warnings of experienced stencilers to not overload the brush with too much paint. Not a good idea, and as a result, my first attempt ended up in the waste bin. Too much paint will cause the color to bleed underneath the borders of the stencils. You really have to make sure that your brush is almost dry when you’re dabbing your paint on. Yes, dabbing (in an up and down, perpendicular motion) — as opposed to brushing. It takes a few coats (which can be a bit wearing on the wrist muscles) in order to achieve an opaque finish — but the outcome is quite beautiful, I think!

Here’s some stenciling I did on a wristlet pouch and basic tote that I made out of a couple of thriftstore bedsheets. I used Tulip brand Soft fabric paint.

it started when…

My husband Dane, the excellent listener that he is, remembered me mentioning a couple of times that I’d always wanted to take up painting. I’ve sketched for fun in the past, but I’ve never painted. So this past Christmas, he got me paints, an easel, brushes and some very intimidating blank canvases. I rolled up my sleeves and dove in head first — finishing these paintings (and a few more) in about a week. Haha. Sadly, when other pursuits took hold of me, I put the paints aside. I do plan on picking the brushes up again as I’ve been commissioned by a somewhat twisted friend of mine to do a portrait of Gruss vom Krampus.

Couple with Floating Head and Pedestal (acrylic)

Woman by Moroccan Window (acrylic)

Woman on Dark Red (acrylic)

A.1. (acrylic)

Monks in Snow (acrylic and newspaper)